Parchment Baked Salmon with Basil Anchovy Dressing

There’s a certain magic to chopping some things up rolling it all into one dish and tossing it in the oven only to pull out this complete meal less than 20 minutes later. I’m not sure why that feels easier to me sometimes than throwing those same ingredients in a skillet, but it just does. In the case of baking in parchment, the added bonus is clean up basically consists of tossing the parchment in the garbage. God I love that. As a private chef I feel like all I do is scrub, wash, dry and put away my pots and pans…maybe it’s high time I found an assistant.

This recipe is not only easy, it’s also incredibly beautiful and healthy. All these incredible colors add up to a huge amount of anti-oxidants, nutrients and above all flavor.

Here’s the recipe

INGREDIENTS

1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1/2 fennel bulb, thinly sliced

6 green olives, coarsely chopped

2 shallots, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons freshly chopped parsley

1 pound of wild salmon

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh basil

3 anchovies

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

METHOD

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

Rip off a large piece of parchment paper and place on your baking sheet.

In the center of the parchment, stack pepper, fennel, olives, shallots and parsley and top with raw salmon.

In a mini-chopper or blender, blend olive oil, basil, anchovies, lemon juice and salt. Blend roughly for a moment just to get everything combined and pour over the salmon on the parchment paper.

Lift the edges of the parchment up to meet above the salmon and veggies like you are creating a tent. Fold the parchment over once just to hold the fold in place and then start on one side and very tightly roll the parchment all the way across the seam. Once the parchment is sealed, place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for about 18 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest.

The parchment will create steam because it has been sealed so open with caution. Serve immediately.